Unity at the root through bittul

במד' יום ליום יביע אומר כו' א"א ואין דברים כו' כל המדרש.

In the Midrash: "Day unto day utters speech... there is no speech and there are no words [their voice is not heard]" (Tehillim 19:3-4) — the whole Midrash.

The Sefas Emes draws on the Midrash to the verse describing how the heavens "speak" without audible words. He will use this paradox — speech that is yet silent — to develop the theme of unity beneath apparent multiplicity.

למעלה בשורש כולם באחדות ממש כמ"ש ויהי ערב ויה"ב יום אחד.

Above, at the root, all of them are in literal unity, as it is written: "And it was evening and it was morning, one day" (Bereishis 1:5).

At their source, all created forces — even opposites like evening and morning — are bound together in a true oneness. The Torah's phrase "one day" hints that day and night, light and dark, are unified at their root.

כי אור וחשך שכל א' ממונה על ענין אחר זה מהופך מן זה מ"מ שם הם אחדות א' כמ"ש עושה שלום במרומיו שר של מים ושר של אש נעשין כולם אחד לעשות רצון המלך.

For light and darkness, each of which is appointed over a different matter and the one the opposite of the other, are nonetheless there one unity — as it is said, "He makes peace in His heights" (Iyov 25:2): the minister of water and the minister of fire are all made one to fulfill the will of the King.

Even forces that are functionally opposite — fire and water, light and dark — are unified at their source because each exists only to carry out the ratzon Hashem. Their opposition dissolves in their shared subordination to the King's will, and this is the "peace in the heights."

ז"ש אין אומר ואין דברים כי מבטל כל א' הנהגה שלו אל רצון המלך.

This is the meaning of "there is no speech and there are no words" — for each one nullifies its own conduct before the will of the King.

The "silence" of the heavens is the bittul (self-nullification) of each force. Because each one surrenders its distinct identity to Hashem's will, there is no separate "speech" of its own — only the single unspoken testimony of all creation serving one Master.

וזה שכולם פונים לעשות רצונו ית"ש הם אחדות א' רק כשמתפרשין לעשות כל א' שליחותו למטה זה עושה בפ"ע וזה בפ"ע.

And this is it: that all of them, turning to do the will of Hashem, are one unity; only when they branch out, each to perform its shlichus (mission) below, does one act on its own and the other on its own.

Multiplicity and separation arise only at the level of action in this lower world, where each force has its own task. At the level of their shared purpose — serving Hashem — they remain perfectly one.

ולכן שבת קודש נק' שלום שאז מתבטלין כולם אל השורש.

Therefore the holy Shabbos is called "peace," for then all of them are nullified back to the root.

Shabbos is named "shalom" (peace) because on it all the scattered forces of the week return and nullify themselves to their unified source, restoring the original oneness.

וז"ש בשבת זכר למעשה בראשית כי ששת ימי בראשית נתאחדו בש"ק כמ"ש בו שבת כו' אשר ברא א' לעשות.

And this is the meaning of "a remembrance of the act of Creation" on Shabbos — for the six days of Creation become unified on the holy Shabbos, as it is written: "for on it He rested... which God created to do" (Bereishis 2:3).

Shabbos is a "remembrance of Creation" not merely historically but functionally: it gathers the six diverse days of Creation back into unity. The verse's curious phrase "created to do" hints that the work of each day finds its completion in returning to the oneness of Shabbos.

לעשות כל יום ויום בחי' שלו.

"To do" — meaning, each and every day [carries out] its own aspect.

The word "to do" refers to the distinct task that each weekday performs in the ongoing work of the world.

וזהו פי' מעשה בראשית שאז היו דבקים כולם בראשית ואחדות.

And this is the meaning of "the act of Creation" (ma'aseh bereishis) — that then they were all cleaving in a beginning and unity.

The Sefas Emes reads "bereishis" as pointing to the unified beginning-point in which all the days were originally joined together, before they spread out into their separate functions.

ובימי החול מנהיג כל א' את שלו.

But on the weekdays, each one governs its own [domain].

During the week, the forces of creation operate separately, each running its own particular sphere — the state of apparent multiplicity.

וכן הוא בנשמות ישראל.

And so it is with the souls of Yisrael.

The Sefas Emes now applies the same pattern of unity-at-the-root and multiplicity-in-action to the neshamos of Bnei Yisrael.

הגם כי כל איש יש לו ענין מיוחד שנשתלח עליו בעוה"ז אבל למעלה כל הנשמות אחדות א' דבוק בשורש ובנ"י בכח התורה והמצות כשמתבטלין לגמרי רק לעשות רצון הבורא ית"ש נעשין אחדות א' בק"ש ה' אלקינו ה' אחד ואהבת כו' להיות כל הרצון רק לעשות רצון הבורא.

Although every individual has a unique matter for which he was sent into this world, above, all the neshamos are one unity, cleaving to the root. And Bnei Yisrael, through the power of Torah and mitzvos, when they nullify themselves entirely to do only the will of the Creator, become one unity — in Krias Shema: "Hashem our God, Hashem is One," "and you shall love..." — that the entire will be only to fulfill the will of the Creator.

Just as each day of creation has its own task yet shares one root, so each Jew has a personal mission, yet all souls are one at their source. Through Torah and mitzvos, and especially through the bittul of Krias Shema — accepting Hashem's absolute oneness and directing all one's will to His will alone — Bnei Yisrael actualize that unity.

והנה אהרן הכהן עמוד השלום והקרבנות מסורין בידו שהוא להקריב התחתונים להעלות אותם אל השורש.

Now Aharon HaKohen is the pillar of peace, and the korbanos (offerings) are entrusted to his hand, for his role is to draw the lower beings near, raising them up to the root.

Aharon embodies "shalom," the unifying force. The avodah of korbanos is precisely the work of taking the things of this lower world and elevating them back to their unified Divine source — bringing the many back to the One.

ונק' מלאך ה' שיש בו בחי' ביטול אל הבורא ית"ש.

And he is called "a messenger of Hashem" (Malachi 2:7), for within him is the aspect of bittul to the Creator.

The kohen is termed a "malach" (messenger/angel) of Hashem because, like the angels, he is wholly nullified to the Creator's will — a pure instrument of the Divine.

אעפ"כ בכל איש ישראל נמצא זה הכח.

Nevertheless, this power is found in every Jew.

Although Aharon and the kohanim are the dedicated agents of this unifying bittul, the capacity for it is latent within every single Jew.

ולכן נכתב מצות קידוש השם במסירת נפש בין פרשת הכהנים ובין פרשת המועדות.

Therefore the mitzvah of Kiddush Hashem through mesiras nefesh (self-sacrifice) is written between the portion of the kohanim and the portion of the festivals.

The placement of the command to sanctify Hashem's Name — even unto giving one's life — between the laws of the kohanim and the laws of the mo'adim is deliberate, and the Sefas Emes will now explain its message.

לומר כמו שיש נפשות מיוחדים וזמנים מיוחדים אל השלימות מ"מ ללמד על הכלל כולו יצא שע"י מס"נ יכול כל איש ישראל לבוא אל השלימות ע"י מסירת נפש שהוא לבטל כל הרצון אל השי"ת שיהי' מוכן למות על דבר קדושת שמו ית' בא אל האחדות.

To say: just as there are special souls (the kohanim) and special times (the festivals) [designated] for perfection, nevertheless it comes forth to teach about the whole — that through mesiras nefesh every Jew can come to perfection. For through mesiras nefesh, which is to nullify one's entire will to Hashem, being ready to die for the sake of His holy Name, one comes to the unity.

The kohanim are "special souls" and the festivals are "special times," each a designated channel to spiritual perfection. But Kiddush Hashem, placed between them, teaches that the goal is open to all: through mesiras nefesh — total surrender of one's will, even readiness to die for Hashem's Name — any Jew can reach the very unity that the kohanim and the festivals embody.

מלך שהשלום שלו שכפי הביטול שנמצא בבריותיו אליו. כך זוכין אל השלימות.

"The King to whom peace belongs" — for according to the degree of bittul found in His creatures toward Him, so do they merit perfection.

Hashem is the "King of peace," and "peace" here means the unity born of self-nullification. The measure of a creature's bittul to Hashem is the measure of the wholeness and perfection it attains.

וזה בחי' ב' מאמרות שכ' במד' שתחתונים צריכין ב' מאמרות. מאמר א' בשורש. ומאמר ב' כשמתפרשין למטה כל א' בפ"ע:

And this is the aspect of the "two utterances" that the Midrash mentions — that the lower beings require two utterances: one utterance at the root, and a second utterance when they branch out below, each on its own.

The Midrash's teaching that earthly beings need "two utterances" of creation now becomes clear: one Divine "utterance" establishes them in their unified root, and a second "utterance" brings them into their separate, individual existence in the lower world. The whole avodah is to reconnect that branched-out second state back to the unity of the first — which is the work of Shabbos, of the korbanos, and of mesiras nefesh.

Summary: The Sefas Emes teaches that all of creation — opposites like fire and water, the six days of the week, and the souls of Bnei Yisrael — is one at its root, where everything nullifies itself to the will of the King, and divides into multiplicity only when each thing branches out to its own task below. Shabbos (called "shalom"), the avodah of Aharon and the korbanos, Krias Shema, and ultimately mesiras nefesh all serve to return the scattered "second utterance" of separate existence back to the unity of the "first utterance" at the root. Through bittul, every Jew can reach this perfection.